The Cursed Lands
by Hecatenna
Summary: Chiron gets a call from a old friend in hiding who begs him to send his campers to find Harry, Hermione and Ron after they run away from Hogwarts. Chiron naturally picks Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Grover- but there's something that his friend isn't telling him. Something that could be the difference between life and death. Seventh year fic! Pairings: Percabeth. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm not a big fan of huge author notes at the beginning, even though I do it all the time in my stories, but I'll try to keep this short. Percy and Annabeth are 16. This takes place after the Titan War but before the Giant War. Nico is 14. Thalia is 15 (duh). Harry, Ron and Hermione are all seventeen and in their Seventh Year. If they were in school, which they're not._

**We All Get Our Minds Blown (Although Annabeth is Less Shocked)**

Annabeth

When I got inside and saw the Red Bull on the table I knew that the situation was serious.

Chiron really hates soda, pop, anything sugary and in general, junk food. Even though the camp's magic goblets procure any liquid you want to drink if you ask for, say, Coke, the version you'll get is watered down and generally healthy tasting. The Hermes kids have "ways" of procuring the stuff, and I'll admit I'm not the first Athena kid to dole out the dramachas for some Red Bull or Monster to stay awake during the night and work.

But anyway, that's just me getting distracted. The point is whenever there's actual stuff with caffeine on the table, well, then we're going to be staying up all night in a council.

Rumor has it that while Percy and I were fighting the Titans Chiron was gulping down Red Bull and Iris Messaging every minor god in a one hundred mile radius, trying to get backup for us.

Percy was sitting inside the Big House already, glaring at Thalia, who was in turn glaring at Grover, who was munching nervously on some aluminum cans. Mr. D was in the corner looking bored and Chiron was fiddling with a computer, trying to open a powerpoint and get the image to project on the wall. For an immortal he was surprisingly good at keeping up with the technology, but even he had limits.

After a few nasty words in Greek he eventually gave up and turned to face us.

"Whatever you think I did, I didn't do it." Percy said quickly. I rolled my eyes. Percy was pretty smart but sometimes he acted so… so… dumb, hence his nickname, Seaweed Brain. Chiron just sighed and said,

"I wish that was why you were here Percy. A old friend called me, and we have something more complicated on our hands."

"Stupid Hecate and her stupid experiments to be exact." Mr. D muttered from the corner.

Chiron frowned. "The minor gods are your equals now." He chastised Mr. D, who just sunk lower into the couch. "Anyway, children, what Dionysius is alluding to is Hecate's pet experiment. A few centuries ago she became tired with life as a immortal. As a experiment she decided to have a half blood child and raise her on earth, pretending she was a human woman. She pretended she had "magic" and taught her daughter various spells. After a while she became bored with the experiment and faked her own death, although she still gave her daughter her blessing. What Hecate didn't expect was for her daughter to marry a human man and have a child who was human but retained his mother's magic. The community has grown, until it is estimated that one fourth of the population in England posses magic powers. These people call themselves witches and wizards. They've become quite powerful and sophisticated and-"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My mind started racing, referencing facts and analyzing the new information I'd learned. Percy's mouth was hanging wide open and Thalia looked shocked. Grover didn't have any expression on his face since he was too busy furiously stuffing tin cans into his mouth.

"When I get nervous I eat." He bleated.

"Wait- there are people in America now who have magic? Do they learn to control it or get hunted by monsters?" I blurted out.

"No, the godly part of the children has become too diluted for the monsters to smell them. However, the descendants still have magical powers, partly because of Hecate's blessing. And these wizards and witches mostly reside in Europe. There is a school, actually, in England called Hogwarts, which leads us to the problem."

"Harry Potter." Mr. D grunted. "So there's this guy Voldemort and he's basically incredibly evil. He tries to kill this kid, Harry, when he's a baby and Harry doesn't die. He's basically forced Voldemort into hiding for eleven years because somehow baby Harry has injured the evil wizard. But now Voldemort is back, and instead of fighting him Harry has run away from school with his friends Hermione and Ron and is in the middle of England, where Hogwarts can't protect him. He'll die if Voldemort gets to him, so we need all of you to go and find him so he can kill him.

"I-I-you find a teenager in the middle of England?" Thalia finally manages to stutter. "Are you kidding me? He could be anywhere!"

Chiron sighes. He sounds tired and worn down by this whole business.

"That's why you're here. You're to track him and his friends. Percy will try to protect them along with you, Grover will help with the tracking if he can scent them out and Annabeth will try to reason with the trio and get them to come back to Hogwarts.

I frown. The plan sounds incredibly reasonable but somehow there's something that seems wrong about it. There's some information I'm missing.

"Why did he run away?" I ask. Chiron looks upset as he answers,

"I don't know. My friend contacted me in hiding and he wasn't very forthcoming with all the details. But I have great confidence in your abilities nonetheless. Lord Zeus has agreed to a temporary truce so Percy can fly to England without harm. Your flight leaves in-" Chiron checks his watch, "-three hours. I suggest you start packing now."

"Oh." Mr. D shouts from the corner. "I forgot. Under no circumstances are you to allow them to know of the Greek gods. You'll have fake wands that are pre-programmed with a few spells so don't try anything too flashy. Also, try not to die."

Percy

Throwing stuff in a bag is the extent of my packing. T-shirts, pants, a jacket and a hoodie, socks, boxers and my ambrosia and nectar and I'm ready to go. It's not safe for demi-gods to use technology, like cellphones or GPS trackers because monsters can find us more quickly, so Annabeth is going old school. She has to leave Dadaeleus's computer behind, but Hecate has provided us with a enchanted piece of paper that shows a interactive map of England.

Thalia is covering the camping supplies and Grover is making sure all of us have a full bag of food when we leave, so I don't really have to do anything.

I'm lugging my duffle bag out to the front of the camp where Angus is waiting with the van when Rachel Dare, our oracle, runs up to me. Her messy red hair is pulled into a loose bun and her eyes are wide.

"I'm honored that you came to say goodbye-" I start to say in a joking tone but she interrupts me. It's not Rachel's voice that's talking now, but a voice that has centuries of wisdom and knowledge.

_Five demigods shall travel to the cursed land_

_A Golden Trio four will seek_

_Against enemies more numerous than sand_

_From the Ghost King's sword a soul shall reap_

I silently curse the fact that Riptide can't really be used as a normal pen. Thankfully Rachel is out of her trance and she hands me the pen that is holding her hair in a bun. I try to scribble the prophecy down but my dyslexia is making it really hard out how to spell numerous. And golden. And cursed.

Eventually I manage to get some of it down. I hug Rachel goodbye (and silently hope that Annabeth isn't around, because if anyone can overanalyze a friendly hug, then, well, it's her) then scramble for the van.

Thalia and Grover have already taken the prime choice front seats so Annabeth and I are stuck in the back. I throw my bag in the trunk and sit next to Annabeth. Her golden hair glimmers in the light coming through the windows as she rests her head on my shoulder while still reading. I smile and lean into her. After the Titan War Hermes sprung for Annabeth and I to travel to the Romance Destinations- Madrid, Paris, you get the idea.

It was amazing, but I know now that no matter where I am, I'll be happy with Annabeth. Just as happy as when everything was peaceful.

* * *

"Oh gods." Annabeth mutters. She looks up from her book with wide eyes and turns to me and Thalia, since Grover is still slumbering and talking about cans. "The cursed lands you were talking about in the prophecy Percy? I figured it out. In the 1800s the Heart of the West was in England. It was fairly industrialized but also prosperous, making the Olympians happy. So they grew somewhat lazy and- this part's a little fuzzy- somehow a mortal got ichor."

Thalia frowns. "But what would they use it for?"

"To mix machines with the blood of the Gods. They made these horrible, horrible automatons that were almost undefeatable. They wiped the half blood population in half in just a few years."

Sometimes having a smart girlfriend is really, really bad. I would have been just as happy going to England and thinking that it was just quaint countryside. So basically Annabeth is saying we're going into a cursed land populated by freaky half god machines. And they all really want to kill us.

Oh joy.

_So guys, even though this is my ninth story I always appreciate critiscm! Please, please help me get better and tell me if someone seems OOC or odd. The plot of this story will affect the storyline of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows so it won't stick to the book. Sorry if that's not your thing._

_I'm also looking for a beta-reader so… if you're a beta-reader please contact me! Thanks!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Thalia Talks to a Rock (Kind Of)**

Thalia

We'd been tracking Harry and his friends for three weeks. Three pretty miserable weeks in my opinion.

Sharing a tent with Annabeth wasn't the problem. The problem was she spent all night reading records of the automaton attacks, and just when I was falling asleep she would say 'Oh gods!' or 'What the Hades?' really loudly and wake me up. Then she would relay all her discoveries to me in the middle of the night.

Did you know that a dog automaton is made to kill half-bloods in seventeen different ways? No? I didn't either until last week.

Finally after a week Grover caught a nodd scent of a godly origin. Aft first we couldn't figure out what the strange scent was- we'd also run across something that smelled metallic that we figured was from the automaton beasts, but the new scent smelled a lot cleaner. Finally after we investigated the town we found that someone had manipulated the mist so the mortals no longer remembered the three teenagers that had come in and bought some camping food from the department store.

Honestly, if it were me I would have made it so the clerks thought I paid when I didn't, but I guess these teens were more morally upstanding than me, because they paid in euros.

That turned out to be a pretty big mistake. Now that Grover had a strong scent to follow we tracked them through the English forests and towns- until now. Their scent trail stopped completely at a river. I personally had a few doubts about Grover's abilities, but he assured me that they had been here, and that their scent really stopped at a river on the outskirts of town.

After walking around in the forest a few times didn't produce anything Percy said,

"Guys, they must have made another slip up like the camping supplies thing. We should probably go into town and ask some questions." Annabeth gave him a look that made me want to barf, then said,

"Good idea. How about Thalia and Grover go into town and me and Percy stay here? I mean, Percy and I," she amended.

"How about you two not make out in the forest while I'm doing your work." I said sarcastically. Hey, it might be a little harsh but I chose to be an eternal maiden for a reason.

"It's too dangerous for you guys to be together without me or Grover to mediate. What if you two start to fight? Then what happens?" Annabeth countered.

I groaned. She, being a child of Athena, was right. They were always right, I thought with a scowl.

"Fine. Come on Goat Boy, we have a hike ahead of us." Grover looked at Percy balefully before scampering after me on the trail. We walked in silence, keeping up a good, steady pace for about ten minutes before I heard him say softly,

"Listen, Thalia, I'm really sorry about what happened to you. With the tree. I should have protected you better."

I closed my eyes, glad that my spiky hair fell into my eyes so Grover couldn't see my expression. Sadness and anger that I'd lost so many years of my life starts to build up. I stomped on a twig and huffed loudly, still unsure of how to respond. Thankfully the town is now in view, so I changed the topic quickly by saying,

"I think we should go to the convenience store over there. It's called-" I squinted. The letters looked like y'sainSrybur. Ugh. I wished my dyslexia would go on a nice walk in the Underworld and fall into the river Styx but unfortunately I had no such luck.

"Sainsbury's?" Grover translated. "Good idea. They probably need to stock up on supplies by now."

We walked over and tried to clean ourselves us- Grover readjusted his beanie and I swiped my hair out of my eyes. I left my circlet back at camp because I was technically off duty for this trip, and it would also arouse suspicions.

The store was empty at this time of night. The clerk sat alone at the checkout lane while the linoleum lights lit the store harshly and made my eyes hurt with the sudden contrast.

His weasely face and bored look made me think that it'll be easy to get the information out of him, if there is any. Of course the wizards wipe memories, but the actual feelings, well, they're still there and if I'm any huntress of Artemis then I know exactly which buttons to push. Men, they're all the same. I gave a silent prayer to my Lady before I spoke.

"So." I said with a flirtatious smile. "This place is pretty quiet. Anyone come around here lately? I'm on a road trip with my friends, and this one guy, Harry, he disappeared! Like, totally ditched us! He's got green eyes, black hair, kinda messy?"

"Maybe." The cashier grunted. I tried a different tactic.

"Made you feel insignificant, the guy was kind of arrogant like he owned the place?"

"Eh." The cashier shrugged.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Sure."

"The sky is purple and raining with cows!"

"Cool." He responded dully. I sighed and leaned back. Honestly, I've had more stimulating conversations with rocks.

"This is a lost cause Grover, we'd better go. Grover? Grover!" I yelled, snapping my fingers in front of his face, but he remained frozen, his eyes stuck in the corner of the room.

"Thalia," he whispered quickly, "We have to go, _now_." I started getting into a battle stance while backing towards the door, pulling Grover with me when a bronze rat scurried from the corner of the store. This had to be one of the automatons that Annabeth was talking about- but it wasn't as scary as she made them seem. In fact, it almost seemed kind of cute-

The rat hissed, showing long teeth made of celestial bronze and it's eyes glowed red. Instinctively I guessed that as soon as the rat scratched me I would be dead. Suddenly it was moving too quickly for me see. I tapped my bracelet and Aegis expanded. It was pure ADHD battle reflexes that saved me. I swung my shield up quickly and the rat bounced off of it. It was temporarily stunned so I was able to stab it with my spear, then transform it back into a mace canister.

A oily looking gold tinted liquid poured from the monster onto the floor. Wherever the blood touched the floor blackened and started to bubble. I backed away from the still oblivious clerk, Grover in front of me as we ran out of the door. As we ran down the street he stopped suddenly. I skidded into him, cursing in Ancient Greek.

"Gods Grover, why?" I hissed, irritated at my failure to find information on Harry and frightened by what one little rat had almost done.

"Something about this air," he bleated while sniffing. "There was magic done here- there's no scent from Harry or his friends but this is definitely their magic. They managed to wipe their scent somehow, but they're here and they know they're being tracked."

_Yeah, I tried a cliffie. Sorry if Thalia seems OOC, she's one of my favorite characters (Other than Percy and Annabeth) so I tried pretty hard for this. Also, still no beta-reader… so there might be mistakes I missed since I only do light editing. I'm still looking!_


	3. Chapter 3

_So… new chappie! Thanks for the reviews and follows and faves, they're really, really awesome. You guys are the best!_

**We Experiment with the Glorified Sticks**

Percy

Annabeth smiled, a warm light reaching her stormy grey eyes.

"You know I love you, right?" She said. I grinned.

"Yeah. I love you too." I said, still confused about the sudden change of mood.

"It's just… it feels like something about this quest is wrong. The prophecy, everything, I just have a horrible feeling about this. I don't- I don't know if we'll come out of this okay Percy." I looked into Annabeth's eyes, and saw real fear, which scared me.

She was the bravest person I knew, and she was scared. When we were fighting the titans or in the Labyrinth Annabeth never cracked, but now… now things were different. We were in a different continent with new rules and new monsters and I had a feeling that we were way out of our league.

"Come here," I said. Annabeth blinked.

"What? I think the change is scenery is scrambling your brains."

I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore her. I hugged Annabeth to me, leaning against the tent floor. She cuddled up next to me and I smiled in contentment, happy that just for this moment we could feel safe. She nestled into me as I closed my eyes and drifted into a dream.

_Rachel was in front of me, her frizzy red hair flying in all directions. Usually she made an effort to clean herself up since during the school year she was attending Clarion Academy, but now she looked like she'd stolen a car and driven as fast as she could to Camp Half Blood. She was arguing with someone behind me, her words loud and cutting._

_"You need to go to England! You don't understand, it's part of the prophecy. You _can't _stay here." A familiar voice countered with,_

_"They don't want me there! I can do this by myself, I don't need any help."_

_"You're the fifth demigod. You have to go. If you go you will reap the soul of the one you seek." The last part was spoken in the Oracle's voice._

_"No."_

_"If you don't go Percy will die. The future is set Nico, you're at a crossroads. Leave behind your pride or be consumed by it."_

_I spun around to see Nico clutching his sword. His eyes were narrowed and the area around looked bruised, like he was missing sleep. Well, more bruised than usual. His eyes clouded over, and suddenly he hissed,_

_"You knew. You knew all along." Rachel looked sad and worn down._

_"I see everything Nico, even things best kept as secrets." Nico looked torn for a second before spitting out,_

_"Fine. I'll go. But not for Percy, for-"_

"Kelp Head, get up!" Someone was shaking my shoulders. I groaned and sat up to see Thalia glaring at me and Annabeth, who was sitting up looking as dazed as me. I blinked, still disoriented by my dream. After a few futile attempts to pat my hair down I blinked to see Grover bleating nervously in the corner of the tent munching on a tin can.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to leave you here! Listen, Grover and I got attacked by the automatons. Also-"

I didn't even think before interrupting Thalia. "Nico's coming." I said blearily.

"What?" She growled. "He's coming? Never mind, that's not important!"

"Excuse me, but I find that very important-"

"Harry knows we've been tracking him!" Grover bleated loudly from the corner. We all stared at him in shock, except for Annabeth who immediately took control of the situation.

"Everyone, disguise your weapons. Don't take them out unless needed. Since the wizards are descendants of Hecate they should be able to see through the Mist. And here-" She reached into her backpack, "-take these." Annabeth handed out the wands, which to be honest, to me looked like glorified sticks, but then again, each to their own. Since ours weren't real wands they had no decorations, just simple sticks that were polished. Grover was already trying to eat his.

"Lumos." Thalia said, and to my surprise the tip of the wand started to glow, perfect for illuminating the dark tent. Dawn was still a few hours away.

"How did you know the spell?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Just came into my head." Thalia shrugged. She then stepped outside of the tent and started scanning the area. The area looked clear but she came inside disconcerted.

"There's someone out there." She hissed.

"I can smell them too." Grover brayed while shoving his hat lower on his head. "But I can't see them. They're hidden." We sat nervously in silence, all of us fidgeting because of our ADHD. Well, except for Grover, and that probably saved our lives. While we were drumming our fingers on our legs the satyr noticed a slight depression on one side of the tent.

With lightening quick reflexes his leg shot out and hit the right side of the depression. I heard a oomph as a loud crash was heard outside. I hurried out with Annabeth close behind, and was confronted by two teenagers, only visible from waist up. The one with a lightening scar on his forehead was knocked out with a rapidly swelling lump on his forehead. The girl with brown curly hair grabbed her stick (I mean wand) and pointed it at us.

"Who are you?" She snarled. "Go on, you better bloody tell me because I've faced worse than you. Far worse."

_Feeble attempt at cliffie! Yay! Seriously guys, you are the best. Please review, it makes my day :D Sorry the chapter's so short... I'm writing as fast as I can!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay guys, thank you so much for the reviews, the faves and the follows. We have eighteen followers for only three chapters! Wow- that was unexpected. However, since I only have twelve reviews and some of them are repeats… I think some of you aren't reviewing… but that's okay if you just aren't a wordy person or don't like typing._

_This chapter is dedicated to: TeamLeo4Life. Seriously, this fabulous person went above and beyond after they decided they liked my story, which adding me to their author alert and faving/following/reviewing almost all of my other stories. So big shoutout to you!_

_Anyway, here's the chapter you were waiting for!_

**Harry Almost Ruins Everything**

Harry

Harry cracked open an eye. His head hurt and he had a feeling his glasses were cracked again. As he lay on the hard, rocky ground his mind started to race, the recent events coming back to him. The teenagers that were tracking them and the strange metal mouse he'd seen earlier in the day, Voldemort and- Hermione's voice interrupted his thoughts. Right, Hermione was here too. He had to protect her.

Harry's eyes flew open and he grabbed his wand out of his pocket and jolted to his feet.

"Stupify!" he yelled, pointing randomly at the teenager with the curly brown hair and floppy hat. His eyes were large in surprise and he let something out that sounded suspiciously like a bleat before he was totally frozen.

The girl with the electric blue eyes and spiky hair growled. She started to reach for her bracelet on her arm (Harry wondered if there was some kind of hex firing mechanism built in it) and the boy with the green eyes went for his back pocket, but then the blonde kicked both of them in the shins and hissed,

"Percy, Thalia, don't be so _stupid._" Percy's eyes widened briefly, then he grabbed the wand sticking out his front pocket and held it awkwardly in front of him.

"Don't move! I am a very powerful wizard!" Harry blinked in disbelief. Percy sounded like he was reading from the lines of a bloody awful movie. Thalia grabbed her wand too and started shouting,

"Abracadabra!" Hermione and Harry gave her a disbelieving look.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked. "I've never heard that spell before."

"Um… It's a new prototype. It's supposed to daze something by playing the ABC song continuously in their head." The blonde girl said quickly.

Hermione smiled at their stalkers and said gently,

"That's very nice. Anyway, we were talking out a deal Annabeth?" Annabeth frowned.

"This guy is the one that killed… um… You-Know-Who? I mean, I'm willing to continue negotiating if he unfreezes my friend Grover."

Hermione smiled and waved her wand casually.

"Reverso." She said easily. "Now, this is indeed the boy that took down He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. I know he looks rather unimpressive but-"

"Hermione," Harry said, interrupting her. "These are the people that were tracking us. They could be followers of Voldemort-"

"Don't say his name." Hermione cut in sharply. "I think a taboo spell may be on it- why do you think the Weasly's tent almost burned down a few months ago? How could they track them through the enchantments? We have to move- soon." Thalia nodded and gestured to the door of the tent.

"If everyone steps out I can pack this up in a few minutes and we can catch a bus to the farthest town on the line."

Harry wondered why she couldn't just spell so it packed itself up, but he stepped outside and pulled Hermione into the shadows.

"How do you know we can trust them?" He demanded.

"For gods sake Harry, just listen! They're from America, apparently top in their school. They were sent to track us down and return us to Hogwarts and-" She faltered here, "-I've agreed to go," Hermione held her hand up and ignored Harry's outraged gasp, "Because they said they would help us find Ron _and _locate the remaining horcuxes."

"But they could be with Vo- I'm sorry, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."

"I know, they don't know a lot about wizards here and except for Annabeth, don't seem very bright. I think they're hiding something Harry, but don't you see, we have to use them as much as we can, then we'll get rid of them and go on our merry way."

"Fine." Harry grumbled reluctantly. "But one wrong move and we leave. We can't afford for _him _to stop us, not when we're so close."

"I know Harry." Hermione said gently. "But this is all for the best. Keep your ears open if you suspect something odd, and we'll leave as soon as something seems off, I promise."

Annabeth

Thalia had our bags packed, so together we all started walking for the bus stop as soon as possible. We had no idea how we were going to find Ron but Grover thought he remembered catching a scent a few towns back, so we were planning re-searching the forest.

I sighed and reshouldered my backpack. My hair felt greasy and unwashed, and the town was still a half a mile away. Percy reached over and held my hand, which made me feel better, but I still knew that even with him we'd have a hard time fulfilling the prophecy.

It didn't specify whose soul would be reaped, which made me nervous. I liked the current Oracle better than our old one, but no matter who was giving the message the prophecies were always twisted, always layered with double meanings and tricks.

I had myself so worked up about this whole business that I didn't even notice the rustling leaves to my right until it was too late.

I shoved Percy onto the ground just as a huge bronze bear crashed out of the woods. I immediately went for my knife before remembering that the wizards could see through the Mist. Cursing, I went for my wand and prayed to Hecate.

_I really need a spell that will kill this thing, _I thought. _Some help please?_ Percy and Thalia weren't doing any better, holding their wands awkwardly and narrowly avoiding the bear's claws. I leaped to the side before it could skewer me.

I faintly heard Hermione shouting something that sounded like 'Stupify!' but there was no effect on the bear. The spells kept on bouncing off of the metal

Harry backed up, his eyes wide and shouted,

"Sectumsempra!" A jet of light flashed from the wand and a slash appeared on the bear's belly, cutting though the metal. A oily looking gold liquid appeared from the cut and slowly began to drip on the ground. Wherever it touched the dirt the area darkened, and any plants in the vicinity began to whither and die.

The bear growled in anger, it's automatic eyes flashing red. It turned to a Harry and started to charge.

Just when I thought the situation couldn't get worse, Nico stepped out of the shadows. With a roar he plunged his sword into the bear's foot just before it decapitated Harry.

The bear dissolved into a pool of oily liquid as it seeped into the ground. Harry's mouth was wide open as he said,

"Who was that and why does he have a black sword?"

_Don't kill me for the cliffie! After Nico's character development in HoH suddenly everything is so much more painful. _

_Also, don't expect chapters as quickly, because my winter break ended and I'm back in school. *cries* I'm going to try to get a chapter a week (maybe even two if I feel good) but I don't know about more than that… sorry._


	5. AN - important, please read

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've uploaded. I'm sure you've guessed by now that this isn't actually a new chapter. Wait! Don't leave! I just wanted to explain it'll probably be another couple of weeks until I upload (I'm sorry! Don't kill me!) since I'm rereading all the Harry Potter books. When I wrote chapters 1-4 I'd recently reread all of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus but I'd hadn't read Harry Potter in... well... three or four years. Kind of embarrassing, I know. Anyway, when _Guest_ reviewed and told me I used the wrong counterspell for the stupify spell I felt... well... stupid and unqualified to write this (but I appreciated the tip). I decided that I couldn't keep on writing a fanfiction for Harry Potter just by using Wikipedia to look up spells.

So I embarked on a quest to reread the favorite books of my childhood. I totally forgot how good they were- but that's not the point. Anyway, between school, Taekwondo and my cartooning class (I love art!) I don't have time to read and write this fanfiction at the same time. Luckily for you guys, I am a pretty fast reader (I was nicknamed Speed Reader as a child) so I'll be finished with the series by... well, with school and other priorities probably in two weeks or so.

In summary:

Good news: More in character Harry, Hermione and soon to be Ron! *wink wink* Cooler spells, more authentic sounding British slang/talk and more magic in general.

Bad news: It'll probably be another week or two (or three if I'm lazy in which case you have permission to PM me and tell me to get off of my butt) until you guys get the fifth chapter.

Fear not! I (probably) won't abandon this story since I really do like it :D Have a nice couple of weeks guys!

PS. 1,000 views guys! *mouth drops* Everyone out there is freaking awesome! This really surpassed all my expectations.


	6. Chapter 5

_Wow. Like holy Hades. You guys are luckyyyy. Long story short, I had two snow days in a row (I know, right! Awesome!) because the weather was in the negatives and the school thought we might freeze to death or something (not that I'm complaining) so I whipped my way through the fifth, sixth and seventh Harry Potter books. Seriously, the Deathly Hallows took me three-four straight hours to read. So updating now from the library (because my apartment is really freaking cold.) Just super quickly, I have two things to say, then you'll get the story._

_To "Nice" Guest: Thanks for the compliments! I would recommend you not put your real name on the internet even after you're fourteen, but you can always use a nickname (it doesn't even have to be anything like your real name.) I'd love to contact you somehow- have you considered making an account?_

_To "Autocorrect/swearing" Guest: Please don't swear. I moderated your comment, because although I was flattered you liked my story enough to demand more I didn't want some of the younger audience of the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter books to see that. So I don't mind, you can say whatever you like to me directly in a PM but not everyone who reads these stories is over 13. Or 12. Or even 11._

_Anyway, enough rambling (sorry for the long author notes)._

**New Slang and Fun Stuff**

Annabeth

"Who is he?" Hermione demanded again. "And what is he doing here. You assured me that this was it, that there were no more people coming to hunt us, that-"

"I know." I interrupted quickly. "We weren't expecting Nico, but he's a friend. You can lower your wand now. I'll explain everything-"

"Right. You just want us to lower our defenses right now. Of course, because that makes so much sense." Harry snarled, his glasses askew and green eyes flaming.

My mind was racing, trying to find a way to explain the situation without making it sound worse. Come on Annabeth, you're a daughter of Athena. Gods help me, I should be able to talk my way out of this. After all, I've survived worse.

"Nico is… a very special wizard." I began slowly, trying to subtly communicate to Nico to just play along. He was, of course, sulking in the shadows, but a swift kick from Thalia fixed his attention problem. "He… suffered a very devasting loss as a child." Nico affixed what he thought was a sad expression on his face. Unfortunately, since he was always so gloomy anyway the result was terrifying. I ignored him and struggled on. "Ever since then he's been trying to blend hu- er, Muggle technologies to create a weapon to protect those that he loves. So far his prototype is a sword steeped with magic. It's like a wand, but more combat oriented." Nico looked affronted and vaguely insulted, but I still hadn't figured out why he was here in the first place, so I wasn't feeling too much remorse.

Hermione and Harry didn't look too convinced, but we couldn't really focus on the fine details because according to Hermione, lots of horrible followers of Voldemort would be here in seconds, so we really had to make it to the bus.

We began trudging forward again, although the two British teenagers hung back and started whispering furiously, with some jabbing motions towards Percy and I.

"Think they're in a relationship?" Percy asked. Apparently we were ignoring Nico's sudden appearance.

"Isn't Nico more important? What is he doing here?" I hissed.

"He's walking in front of us Annabeth, don't you think he can hear us? Give the poor guy a break." Percy gritted out. "He's in the prophecy anyway, and-" he hesitated, "-I'll explain later." I wanted to push more, my natural curiosity was almost killing me, but I didn't want to start a fight now.

"I mean, anthropologically speaking, it would make sense if they were. Chiron told us that they've been best friends since they were eleven." I said, trying to change the subject. "And now that the Ron guy is gone, well, they'd be even closer now, right?"

"Nope." Thalia interrupted, falling back from her previous position at the head of our group. Nico just looked upset at the prospect of losing his walking partner and started kicking pebbles. Grover moved up, maybe to comfort him, but I ignored the drama. "All wrong. It's all platonic, there's no romance involved. Look at them- I mean, they don't look like they love each other, they look like brother and sister."

"And you would know this how?" Percy snorted. "The whole 'eternal-maiden-hate-guys' thing really puts a damper on romance."

Thalia rolled her eyes impatiently. "Do you know how many people made out under my tree? After a few years people started to forget that I died in the first place. I've seen relationships be born, destroyed and-"

"Yeah, yeah, we all know you're a creepy perv." Percy interrupted. Thalia punched him in the shoulder but winced when her fingers bounced off. She rubbed her knuckles ruefully and looked like she was about to reply with something snappy when Grover yelled out,

"Hey! The bus is here guys, time to get aboard!" He was right, we'd reached the end of the dusty path and a rather battered looking bus advertising something that appeared to look like really messed up letters (thanks a lot dyslexia) and a picture of creepily happy children that all had blindingly white teeth.

"S'weird, yeah? I've been seeing these dental advertisements everywhere, I mean, since when have people been so interested in their teeth?" Hermione said. I blinked, confused.

"Dental stuff? Um, yeah. Really odd." I said absentmindedly while I tried to climb on the (unsurprisingly) empty bus and shove my duffle bag under my seat. The bus driver gave me a suspicious look, but didn't say anything. To my surprise Harry and Hermione didn't appear to have any luggage but a small beaded bag that Hermione was carrying.

We all got ourselves settled on the bus. Sadly most of the seats had mysterious stains on them or were missing whole chunks of the seat so Grover, Thalia, Nico, Percy and I got forced to sit with Harry and Hermione. It wasn't that we didn't like them, it just got somewhat painful because it was obvious that they didn't trust us, and I didn't like Hermione's piercing eyes that were always trying to decipher us.

Honestly, she reminded me a lot of my mom, Athena. I mean, even though physically she didn't have the shade of dark brown hair or grey eyes she just seemed like a child of Athena. Which would mean we were sisters, or even worse, if it was diluted I was her aunt-

Thankfully my destructive train of thought was interrupted by Percy's somewhat loud snoring. I laughed and immediately regretted we couldn't use technology, because it would have made an absolutely wonderful blackmail picture.

_Three days later_

Hermione

Three days. Three whole days have passed and they've not yet found Ron, Hermoien thought. Apparently Grover and Thalia (the supposed "trackers" of the American wizards) couldn't find any trace of him. They tracked him to a clearing in the woods, then they were stumped. Personally she thought that he'd apparated somewhere else, but Grover and Thalia were insisting that he'd been kidnapped. Honestly, they knew so little about magic (how could they not apparate in America?) that Hermione had trouble believing that they were the best in their class.

Her only comfort was that they didn't seem smart enough to be Death Eaters either. Although Crabbe and Goyle weren't exactly setting a high standard in intelligence either.

Luckily Hermione was already forming a plan. She could create a tracking amulet but it would require ingredients- magic ingredients- that she couldn't get her hands on, being an unregistered Muggle-Born. Even the thought of what the Ministry was doing made her feel sick.

"Listen up! Hello? PAY ATTENTION!" She resorted to bellowing over another one of Percy, Thalia and Nico's daft little squabbles. "We need to find Ron. You _promised_ you could help us find him, and where are we three days later? Nowhere! So I think it's time that we start trying something different. I can make a tracking amulet but I need ingredients we don't have now. So someone has to go into a wizarding shop and get them for me."

After a few minutes shocked silence Thalia ventured calmly, "You have everything else that you need?"

"Er… yeah, got the string, silver and one of Ron's hair. I'll just draw up a shopping list and one of you lot will have to go grab the stuff. I'll give you the money- shouldn't be more than ten gallons I think, it's all very basic stuff, just the opal, flabbergasted leech, erumpet tail and blimey- this'll be pricy, a vial of dragon blood. All I need to do is soak the amulet in this potion and we'll be good to go!" Hermione beamed at her own cleverness.

"One of us?" Grover bleated slowly. "Goes and gets these ingredients? And recognizes them? Easily?" Hermione was surprised by the lack of confidence that the Americans were showing. Granted, she'd never heard of these ingredients before Hogwarts, but most of the things she'd named were fairly basic- in fact, she'd learned half of it in her First Year. Didn't they cover these things in the American school?

"Merlin's beard, didn't you get taught this in America?" Harry sounded rather surprised at their lack of knowledge as well.

"Well… we have a slightly different curriculum." Annabeth said hastily. "We spend a whole year mastering one subject and then move on, potions in our last year and we're not quite there yet."

"Then how can you use magic if you're not of age yet?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Special permit." Percy said quickly. Thalia and Nico nodded and made affirmative noises.

"Well, if you can't identify the objects we don't want to raise suspicions by having you ask the clerk, they might take that as evidence of being muggle-born, and then you'll really be in trouble. One of us will have to go with you under the Invisibility Cloak and help you pick out the stuff."

"I'll go." Harry said immediately. "It'll be better, if we get captured I'll be okay and in case of dementors I can use a patro-"

"No." Hermione replied stonily.

"Yes." Harry replied stubbornly.

"Harry, you only passed Sixth Year potions because of the Half-Blood Prince! You can't even tell Devil's Snare from flitterbloom!"

"Yeah, well, can you? Loads of people get fooled-"

"Listen!" Hermione cried out in exasperation. "I'm going and that's the end of it." Harry opened his mouth but one look at Hermione's face made him snap it shut.

Percy

The wizarding store was small, cozy and fascinating. It reminded me too much of the Big House's attic to be honest. Things like dried seahorse (I winced at this one) and frog brain were in neatly labeled bottles. Strange and glowing things were clustered in baskets around the edge of shop.

"Turn left." Hermione hissed from underneath the cloak. "In that blue container- next one over- take on scoop and put it in the bag." I heard some quiet rustling that told me she was checking her list. "Almost done, just need a opal. Yeah, pick a nice big one, should be a little milky- No! Not that one, get one without a crack," It didn't take a genius to hear the frustration in Hermione's voice. Honestly, I kind of felt like I was being bossed around by Annabeth.

I selected an opal that was apparently satisfactory and carried it over to the front desk, trying not to feel ridiculous.

The clerk pushed my items to the side of the counter and looked up at me with narrowed eyes. He said suddenly, "What's your blood status boy? I don't serve-" he spat the last part- "filthy mudbloods in my fine establishment." I felt the cloak brush back and Hermione tensed in anger. I blinked, confused.

"Um… what?"

"Your father, boy! Was he a wizard or not?" I figured that since good 'ole dad was a Greek god wizard was a adequate enough term to describe him.

"Yeah, he was a wizard." I said, still confused as to why this was apparently important to him.

"And your mother?"

"Um… she was a Muggle?" A light gleamed in the old man's black eyes. With surprising agility his hand shot out and brushed my messy black hair out of my eyes. His eyes searched my forehead frantically for a few seconds before giving up. The man sighed in defeat and began ringing up the items.

"Better a half-blood than a mudblood." He said tiredly. "Polluting us, they are. The Dark Lord is right to clean us of them, to return us to our natural, pure state." He said the last bit softly but with so much malice that I grabbed the bag of purchased items, tossed what I hoped was a adequate amount of gold- wait- _gallons_ onto the counter and bolted out of the door.

Hermione was right on my heels, glad to leave the shop behind. We walked in silence towards the campsite for a few minutes before I said tentatively,

"What does… mudblood mean?"

She sighed. "I suppose it's to be expected that you have different slang in America. I'll explain it all when we get back. Just… Percy… never call anyone that. It's a horrible, horrible word."

Hermione spun on her heel and marched ahead, refusing to meet my eyes.

I hung back, still carrying the bag of supplies, feeling very much that I had missed something important.

_Oooh… I'm evil, yeah? I think this extra long chapter is my way of saying 'Sorry it took so long to update!' Hope you guys liked it!_


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